Alberto Moravia Movies
Alberto Moravia was a popular, prolific Italian writer, essayist, and short story writer. Much of his work has been adapted to the screen. Moravia, born Albert Pincherle, also wrote original screenplays either alone or in collaboration with others. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Often considered one of the first examples of Italian neorealism, Luchino Visconti's first film was this adaptation of James M. Cain's steamy novel The Postman Always Rings Twice, which would also be made twice in the U.S., first in 1946 with Lana Turner and John Garfield and then in 1981 with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange. Massimo Girotti stars as a drifter named Gino, who gets a job at a provincial inn. The handsome wanderer attempts to resist the advances of Giovanna (Clara Calamai), the estranged wife of nasty innkeeper Bragana (Juan de Landa), but he eventually gives in. Gino then allows her to talk him into killing Bragana to get the insurance money, with predictable results. Although the melodramatic story is a far cry from the post-war social statements of such later neorealist classics as Roberto Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945) and Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948), the movie began to feature some of neorealism's defining characteristics: above all, an emphasis on outdoor shooting and natural light and a relentless focus on the lives of the poor. Ossessione caused a sensation not just because of its lurid subject matter but also because Visconti's realist style makes you practically feel the heat and dirt and sweat of the film's environment. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clara Calamai, Massimo Girotti, (more)
- 1952
Alida Valli delivers one of her finest performances in the Italian Ultimo Incontro. Based on La Biondina, a 19th-century suspense novel by Marco Praga, the script has been updated to the Milan of 1951. Valli plays Lina, the faithless wife of wealthy Piero (Amadeo Nazzari). After entering into an affair with race-car driver Michele (Jean Pierre Aumont), Lina is blackmailed into selling her sexual services to others. Eventually, she is hired to satisfy the desires of -- guess who? The operatic denouement seems less hokey than it is, thanks to the combined skills of star Alida Valli and director Gianni Franciolini. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alida Valli, Amedeo Nazzari, (more)
- 1952
The original Italian title of The Barefoot Savage was Sensualita, an apt description of voluptuous leading-lady Eleanora Rossi-Drago. A newcomer to rural Italy, Rossi-Drago grows to dislike the tedium of working in the fields. She tries to seduce one of the owners of the farm where she works, and when the man tells her to get lost, she sets her sights on his brother. Only after she has married the brother does the farm owner realize that he's fallen in love with her. The tragedy that follows can best be described as operatic. Barefoot Savage was obviously inspired by the success of the 1949 Italian drama Bitter Rice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amedeo Nazzari, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
- 1953
The ever-growing popularity of Gina Lollobrigida was a decided box-office asset when the Italian La Provinciale was distributed to the U.S. as The Wayward Wife. Lollobrigida acquits herself quite nicely in the tensely dramatic role of a much-put-upon small-town girl named Cemma. Seduced by a lad who turns out to be a relative, Cemma is tossed out of her home. Seeking security, she impulsively marries bookish science professor Franco Vagnuzzi (Gabriele Ferzetti). Bored by her marriage, Cemma doesn't realize the true value of her loving husband until it's almost too late. The original 118-minute run time was reduced for U.S. release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Franco Interlenghi, (more)
- 1954
Can a good man tame a woman on the wrong side of the law? Paolo (Marcello Mastroianni) is a slightly clumsy cab driver who, not long after being issued a new vehicle, picks up an interesting fare -- a strikingly beautiful young woman, Lina (Sophia Loren), who is going to the beach with two of her boyfriends. When they arrive at the seashore, Lina invites Paolo to join them, but he soon discovers Lina is simply working her charm on him so her friends can steal his cab. Paolo takes up the matter with the police, but Lina's profoundly silly explanation of the events makes him wonder if he simply misinterpreted the whole thing. However, after meeting Lina's dignified father Stroppiani (Vittorio De Sica), Paolo discovers that both father and daughter are thieves, as is the rest of the family. As Paolo unsuccessfully tries to bring the family to justice, he finds himself falling for the beauteous Lina, and decides to marry her, certain that matrimony will bring her to the straight and narrow. Peccato Che Sia una Canaglia (released in America as Too Bad She's Bad) marked the first time Sophia Loren (then only twenty years old) was co-starred with her frequent screen partner Marcello Mastroianni; they would eventually make thirteen pictures together. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica, (more)
- 1954
La Romana (Women of Rome) is a worthwhile early starring vehicle for Gina Lollobrigida. "La Lollo" plays a young woman who is strong-armed into a modelling career by her ambitious mother. Before long, she discovers that there's a lot more money to be had if she sells her body rather than merely putting it on display. Of the many men in her life, Lollobrigida truly loves only one, but doesn't realize this until it's too late. American prints of La Romana were heavily trimmed to avoid the steamier passages, but Lollobrigida's star quality comes through loud and clear. The film was adapted by director Luigi Zampa from a novel by Alberto Moravia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Daniel Gélin, (more)
- 1955
Sophia Loren was still in the "Anna Magnani" phase of her career when she starred in La Donna del Flume (The River Girl). Sophia is cast as Nives, the girlfriend of capricious cigarette smuggler Gino Lodi (Rik Battaglia). When Gino deserts her, the impregnated Nives is soured on all men, including the "right" one, a likeable police guard (Gerald Oury). The first half of the film plays for laughs, while the second half evolves into a lachrymose soap opera. Through it all, Sophia Loren looks like a million lire--and she even gets to sing and dance! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Rik Battaglia, (more)
- 1956
Racconti Romani (Roman Tales) is a fast-paced comedy based on the short stories of Alberto Moravia. Tying the various narratives together is a gang of young Romans who'll do anything to line their pockets with money. Unfortunately, most of their schemes are at odds with the Law, and most culminate with the schemers losing what little cash they already have. Still, the young protagonists don't learn their lesson until they become mixed up with a counterfeiting ring. The well-chosen cast includes Franco Fabrizi as the gang's leader, Silvana Pampanini as his ever-patient wife, and Vittorio de Sica and Toto in cameo roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Pampanini
- 1958
Five romantic and funny vignettes comprise this Italian anthology that is set amidst the beauty and fun of the famed French coastline. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylva Koscina, Franco Fabrizi, (more)
- 1960
Also known as The Passionate Thief, this fast-paced crime comedy stars Anna Magnani as the fly in the ointment for a pair of disreputable types. Pickpockets Toto and Ben Gazzara don't want Magnani around while they ply their trade, but she manages to foul up their plans by falling in love with their "pigeon", American tourist Fred Clark. Gazzara briefly rids himself of Magnani by pinning a robbery rap on her. Upon her release from jail, she is reunited with Toto, who has loved her all along. Since it is established early on that Magnani is a movie extra and Toto an out-of-work actor, Risate di Giola gets away with a few jibes at the Italian film industry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
The idle lives of the rich or famous or both are depicted from an aloof and uninvolved perspective in this standard though uneven drama by director Francesco Maselli. Claudia Cardinale appears in one of her early screen roles as Fedora, a member of the elite and privileged in a provincial Italian town. The seedy underside of illicit affairs, quick flings, betrayals and deceptions, and other, similar pasttimes of the "in" circle slowly become apparent when a young outsider tries to gain acceptance into the exclusive group. As the plot weaves in and out of the various liaisons in a cool and remote manner, the motivation for wanting to take part in it all is hard to fathom. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudia Cardinale, Gérard Blain, (more)
Normally, an actor or actress in a foreign-language film was not the ideal candidate for an Academy Award, inasmuch as his or her English-language "performance" was often dubbed in by an anonymous third party. Such was not the case of Sophia Loren in Two Women (La Ciociara), who did her own English dubbing. Adapted by director Vittorio De Sica and Cesare Zavattini from the novel by Alberto Moravia, Two Women is the semi-neorealist account of widow Cesira (Loren) and her teenaged daughter, Rosetta (Eleanora Brown), as they struggle to survive in war-ravaged Italy. A conventional romantic triangle between mother, daughter, and Michele (Jean-Paul Belmondo), is barely under way when the war rears its ugly head once more. Seeking shelter in a bombed-out church, Cesira and Rosetta are attacked and raped -- a horrifying sequence, capped by a freeze-frame close-up of Rosetta, her face a taut mask of terror (this image was enough to prompt a virulent "anti-smut" editorial in The Saturday Evening Post). Once they've recovered from this appalling experience, mother and daughter are offered a ride back to Rome by friendly truck driver Florindo (Renato Salvatori). Though Cesira had hoped to keep her daughter from compromising herself as a means of survival, she is crushed to discover that Rosetta has given herself to the truck driver in exchange for a pair of stockings. When Cesira and Rosetta finally reconcile, it is a grievous occasion, mourning the death of their mutual love, Michele. A last-minute replacement for Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren brought hitherto untapped depths of emotion to her performance in Two Women; she later stated that she was utilizing "sensory recall," dredging up memories of her own wartime experiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Eleanora Brown, (more)
- 1961
An uneven mix of right-on situations and two-dimensional characters or worse, La Giornata Balorda is all the more interesting because it was banned in Italy -- not because of sexual or anti-religious content, but because of its depiction of Italian society. David (Jean Sorel) is a poverty-stricken young man who has impregnated the woman he loves and now wants to marry her. The baby has already been born when David sets out to "buy" a job. His uncle, not a model of propriety, gets him introduced to a slick operator who really does not want to hire David at all. But the future employer's mistress takes one look at David and lets her lover know he just has to give him a job. Meanwhile, David is still stuck with the problem of getting the money together to "buy" his job, and he solves that in a rather creative manner. This story of networking among the non-yuppy population did not sit well with the Italian censors. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Sorel, Lea Massari, (more)
- 1962
Director Mauro Bolognini and Goffredo Parise adapted a skillful Alberto Moravia story into this rather pedestrian drama. An eligible widow (Ingrid Thulin) vacations in Venice with her young son. When Thulin begins a tentative romance with friendly John Saxon, her resentful son runs away from home and gets into trouble, falling in with a gang of hooligans. The rest of the film is bland and predictable, as the harsh realities of street life teach the youngster some valuable lessons, most of which are hammered home with redundant narration. Plot mechanics aside, however, Aldo Tonti's rich cinematography still makes the film worthwhile for those who swoon at the sight of the Lido. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paolo Colombo, Ingrid Thulin, (more)
- 1962
A light frolic at the beach with sun and sex both foremost on the scene, this standard comedy by director Giulio Petroni is that much better for the comic work of Ugo Tognazzi and Raimondo Vianello as Benito and Adolfo, two undertakers who enjoy a bit of fun at the beach before they have to go in and punch the clock. Also along for the ride are Jean-Pierre Aumont as Valerio and some very attractive women, involved in a series of episodic vignettes about classic situations -- such as mistaken identity. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Maria Ferrero, Eddie Bracken, (more)
- 1962
Romance, sex, and marriage are the themes of this episodic Italian comedy. The first of the four vignettes, "The Women" tells the story of a bored adulterer who feels ignored by his gaggle of mistresses and decides to obsess upon seducing an old conquest one more time. He later inadvertently deflowers a virgin. In "The Serpent" an ignored wife endeavors to get her husband to pay attention to her while they are on a Sicilian holiday by faking an encounter with a poisonous snake. She later pretends that two helpful truck drivers, who picked her up after a breakdown, raped her causing their arrest. Later the husband arrives, explains his wife's behavior and promises to be more mindful of her. In "The Soldier" a soldier attempts to seduce a lovely widow during a train ride. She ignores him until all the other passengers leave then in utter silence makes passionate love. Later when the train reaches its destination, the soldier tries to follow her, but her relatives stop him. She gets into a car and disappears down the road. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudia Mori, Catherine Spaak, (more)
Contempt is the story of the end of a marriage. Camille (Brigitte Bardot) falls out of love with her husband Paul (Michel Piccoli) while he is rewriting the screenplay Odyssey by American producer Jeremiah Prokosch (Jack Palance). Just as the director of Prokosch's film, Fritz Lang, says that The Odyssey is the story of individuals confronting their situations in a real world, Le Mépris itself is an examination of the position of the filmmaker in the commercial cinema. Godard himself was facing this situation in the production of Le Mépris. Italian producer Carlo Ponti had given him the biggest budget of his career, and he found himself working with a star of Bardot's magnitude for the first time. ~ Louis Schwartz, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, (more)
Each of the episodes in the three-part Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Ieri, Oggi E Domani) stars Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. In "Adelina-Naples," Loren and Mastroianni are married, and Loren is in trouble with the law. Each time the authorities close in, Loren eludes capture by revealing a swollen belly; back in 1964, Italian law forbade the arrest of a pregnant woman until six months after the child's birth. In "Anna," Loren is married to a wealthy industrialist and has an affair with Mastroianni. So obsessed is she with material possessions that she's willing to walk out on Mastroianni when he smashes her sports car. And in "Mara," high-priced prostitute Loren attracts the attention of a young seminary student, but refuses to seduce him -- then takes a vow of chastity, aggravating her regular customer (Mastroianni). While the first episode is the funniest, it was the last episode which received the most press-coverage, thanks to Loren's "striptease" scene, revealing La Loren in skimpy bra and panties (a bit parodied by the stars in Robert Altman's otherwise-dreadful Prêt-à-Porter). Though the title Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow has absolutely no relation to the film at hand, it is a far more appealing cognomen than the film's British release title, She Got What She Asked For. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
- 1964
Horst Bucholz plays Dino, a painter who realizes he has no artistic vision and decides to move back into his wealthy mother's (Betty Davis) home. Just before he does this, however, he falls in love with beautiful and self-serving Cecilia (Catherine Spaak). Though Dino diligently attempts to convince her to marry him, she refuses, but offers to be his lover until someone better strikes her fancy. When that becomes an actuality, Dino does not fare well under the emotional trauma and has a nervous breakdown. With the help of his mother, Dino recovers to find he may not be completely devoid of talent after all. Based on La Noia, an Italian novel by Alberto Moravia. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Horst Buchholz, (more)
- 1964
In this sex-charged character study, a woman's husband persuades her to share in his predilection for group sex. Later, she meets a student and has a one-day affair with him. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keir Dullea, Rossana Podestà, (more)
Director Pier Paolo Pasolini interviews a variety of Italians and asks them questions about love, marriage, infidelity, prostitution and homosexuality. Psychologist Cesare Musatti and writer Alberto Moravia offer their thoughts on the subject in this Italian documentary with English subtitles. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Leo (Rod Steiger) is an aristocrat whose family fortunes have plummeted in this downbeat melodrama. He seeks to reverse his money problems by courting the wealthy Mariagrazia (Paulette Goddard), throwing over his former lover Lisa (Shelley Winters) in his quest to continue his posh lifestyle. Mariagrazia is too caught up in the attention of the charming, conniving Leo to notice that he also makes a play for her daughter Carla (Claudia Cardinale). Mariagarzia continues to want Leo even after he gains control of family fortune and property. Meanwhile, Carla's brother Michele (Tomas Milian) takes up with the jilted Lisa. Finally, in a most poignant scene, the ailing matron finally realizes she has been used by Leo. Excellent performances all around. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudia Cardinale, Shelley Winters, (more)
- 1967
This drama examines the ethics of filmmaking as it chronicles the detached way in which a documentary maker exploits the misery of his subjects. It all begins with the seduction of another man's wife. He takes the woman to Bombay where he is filming opium addicts undergoing a rather extreme cure involving physical beatings. He then heads for Bali to chronicle the cruelty suffered deaf-mute prostitutes. Next, he goes to a Buddhist temple and tries to persuade a monk to light himself on fire. Back in India he cons a starving, deposed maharajah into eating bugs in exchange for canned food. The mistress is disgusted by the way her lover callously exploits and degrades these victims. She berates him, but still heads for war-torn Vietnam to catch some atrocities. The documentarist is excited when he learns the Viet Cong are planning to bomb a bar, and he hides his camera inside. The bomb goes off and most of the inhabitants are blown up. Later the delighted director retrieves the film. When he finds his lover dead inside the ruins, he orders his assistant to film his crying face. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Leroy, Delia Boccardo, (more)
The conformist is 1930s Italian Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a coward who has spent his life accommodating others so that he can "belong." Marcello agrees to kill a political refugee, on orders from the Fascist government, even though the victim-to-be is his college mentor. The film is a character study of the kind of person who willingly "conforms" to the ideological fashions of his day. In this case, director Bernardo Bertolucci suggests that Marcello's desire to conform is rooted in his latent homosexuality. In addition to its strong storyline, the film is critically revered for the astonishing production design by Nedo Azzini, which, together with Vittorio Storaro's camerawork, recreates the atmosphere of Fascist Italy with some of the most complex visual compositions ever seen on film, filled with highly stylized uses of angles, shapes, and shadows. The Conformist was cut by five crucial minutes when first released in the US; those missing moments were restored in the 1994 reissue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dominique Sanda, (more)
- 1976
A biographical documentary on Alberto Moravia, this video presents the viewer with an overview of Moravia's views on fascism, Italy and other social concerns through his own writing. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
